I don't see how it's stealing.. You (as a web developer) don't have the power to require me to display any part of your HTML. Would it still be wrong to disable stylesheets on an obnoxiously coded page? I realize it's a bit different since ads (in theory) make money, but the principle is the same.

The thing is, the bit of difference is actually quite a big difference. It's the difference of helping yourself by not hurting others and helping yourself by hurting someone else.

It's the difference between reading a newspaper you found on the street and reading it over a stranger's shoulder.

It's the difference between adding a few pieces during a game of chess against yourself and doing the same against someone else.

It's the difference between walking down a street and pushing someone aside to do that.

It's the difference between reading a book in the library and reading it in the bookstore.

I like the fact most websites are free.

You know what pisses me off far more than any advert in the world? The fact you have to register to read an article on the nytimes website. Can't be bothered. If the web can't monetize through advertising, expect far more moronic walled gardens.

"Delete domain cookies."

But actually, I subscribe to the NYT, so registering for the site doesn't bother me. I'd rather get something I pay for than get a bunch of crap I don't want (ads) just to read an article.

What if you had to register with 100 websites?

What if the Earth exploded and everyone died?

yeah I think my scenario is slightly more probable.

Wouldn't even need to go that far. All it would take is a greasemonkey script to remove the meta tag. Problem solved.

At which point it would be a lot harder to maintain that you're not trying to screw over a site owner...

foof works well for me https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/search?q=foof&c...